For those that may not know, the City Nature Challenge BioBlitz is a period of time where participating cities make observations of plant species and wildlife using iNaturalist. The identification of these species is then verified by ecologists. The data is then used to show biodiversity in and area. It is also used to create the phenological calendar for an area.
During the BioBlitz, I explored Central Campus. I figured that a lot of people would be making observations off campus so I wanted to make sure that we didn’t have a lack of observations within campus. I was also really curious what the plants blooming all around me were.
iNaturalist was super fun to use because all I had to do was take a picture and then get suggestions as to what it was. Additionally, I liked learning about the locations of where things typically originate.
I encountered six different species, four of which I could loosely identify using the app, two of which I was completely unsure. When looking at the observations from other locations, it was interesting to see how many of the plants here are just beginning to flower, while in many other places they have already done so.
